Best Steam Mop for Tile Floors: Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop Review

In our best mop guide we chose the Bissell 1940 Powerfresh as our best steam mop for tile.

So why exactly is the Bissell Powerfresh the best mop for tile flooring? Let’s recap the product specifications and then analyse what they mean for you, your cleaning schedule and your floors.

The Home Flooring Pros Bissell 1940 Powerfresh Steam Mop Review

Here are the features we like about this bestselling tile steam mop and why…

Steam kills germs: They are several different ways to clean a tile floor but only one that effectively kills germs without the use of chemicals…steam cleaning. The Bissell Powerfresh comes with three heat settings, the higher the setting the more powerful the clean on stubborn dirt, and even the lowest setting is hot enough to kill any bacteria. Sometime chemical cleaners can be useful and convenient but we try to minimise their use. Better for your environment and cheaper too.

Microfiber pad or scrubber pad: The cleaning pads for this steam mop are easy to attach and remove. Having two types of pad, one for everyday cleaning and one for tougher dirt, means you’re ready for every tile cleaning eventuality

Variable steam control: As mentioned there are three levels of steam heat and we found this to be especially useful when tackling stubborn dirt or mess. On the highest heat setting to can just pause the steam mop on top of a dried on section of dirt and let the hot steam from the mop vaporise it!

Light and strong: This steam mop isn’t much to look at, in many ways it’s a very simple contraption, but simple is good. The robust plastic casing makes the steam mop light and strong. NB Strong doesn’t mean indestructible! Treat your steam mop, or any floor cleaner for that matter, with care for a longer life.

Removable tank is easy to fill: We found that a full tank of water and a medium heat setting was all we needed to clean all the tile in our home. When you do need to refill the water you will find that the removable tank makes the process very easy and efficient.

23-foot cord: Unless you live in a mansion this 23 foot power cord should be long enough for you to clean any given room without unplugging!

Price: The recommended retail price for the Bissell 1940 Powerfresh is $99.99 although typically you can buy it for $89.99 from major retailers. When you consider that a decent spin mop and bucket can cost between $40 and $50, you don’t need to spend extra on chemical cleaners and using a steam mop is quicker and easier than wet mopping… we think this steam mop is great value for what you get.

More advantages of the Bissell steam mop

So if the above features and specs aren’t enough to convince you that this is the top steam mop for your tiling then maybe the following Bissell steam mop pros will sway you…

Continuous Steam – Once you’ve plugged in the Bissell steam mop it only takes a couple of minutes before it starts producing steam and it doesn’t stop until you unplug it or it runs out of water. No triggers to pull or buttons to press. You don’t have to push down hard or do anything special, just push the mop backwards and forwards much like a vacuum. As mentioned above, if you happen upon an area that needs extra cleaning attention you can turn up the heat and let the steam build up on that area.

Quick Drying – Have you ever mopped a floor and then stepped on a couple of dish cloths and waddled across your tile floor to dry it? We have! If you run a busy household it can be a bore to wait for your floors to dry after a mopping. With a steam mop, because the water is so hot (steam!) it evaporates very quickly after you’ve cleaned, so by the time you’ve finished cleaning most of your floor will already be dry.

Cleans Grout – We’re not saying that a Bissell steam mop, or any steam mop for that matter, is a dedicated solution to cleaning grout. Stained, faded or particularly dirty grout will most likely need some dedicated attention. However you will be pleasantly surprised by the day to day grout cleaning that you get from a steam mop compared to a regular mop. In fact regular wet mopping can often cause grout problems, as you move dirt water back and forth across grout lines.

Pads Last a Long Time – You will periodically want to buy replacement mop heads for this steam mop but not every week or month. As mentioned, they are easily fitted and removed and can be thrown in the washing machine for cleaning. We bought replacement pads staright away and swap them over once one set is dirty and in the wash.

Disadvantages?

We definitely think this is the best steam mop on the market, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect…nothing is!

Firstly we think this is the best steam mop for tile floors but we’re not big fans of using it on other types of flooring. The Powerfresh is advertised as a hard floor cleaner which means you can use it on other hard flooring types like hardwood or laminate but there are a couple of reasons why we don’t use it that way.

Firstly if you take a look at our hardwood cleaning guide or our laminate cleaning guide you will see that we warn against using excessive moisture/water when cleaning either type of floor. If you keep your steam mop on a low heat setting you’ll probably be fine but we just don’t feel steam mopping is the way to go with these types of flooring.

Secondly, tiles are pretty much friction free when it comes to mopping, your steam mop will glide easily across the surface of your floor. The same can not be said for all other types of hard floor. We have heard complaints that the using this steam mop of rougher floor surfaces is much more work and puts too much strain on the mop head which then starts to pull off the unit.

Finally, it’s just worth mentioning that while we love using a steam mop on our tiles they are not a magic bullet for all cleaning situations. There are still the odd occasion when we resort to getting down on our hands and knees and scrubbing a dirty area with hot water and a scrubbing brush.

If you haven’t entered our competition yet please do so now and good luck. If you already own and use the Bissell Powerfresh Steam Mop then we would love to hear your reviews. Just drop us a line in the comments below.

Great product for us elder adults who have had knee replacement surgery and are unable to get down on our knees to scrub the floors! Also as a nurse I know steam kills germs that can make you very ill !

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